MVP Development for TALL Systems Corp

A case study about a secure MVP system that allows people to control their personal data and choose who they share it with.

Overview

Industry

Security

Platform

Web Platform and Mobile App

Duration

11 month (Dec 2021 – Nov 2022)

This case study focuses on the MVP development for TALL Systems, a company dedicated to solving data management and privacy issues. The client approached us, seeking a reliable local development partner who could not only help them develop an MVP but also derive a scalable architecture based on their future goals. Their objective was to create a system where individuals could take control of their personal data and decide with whom to share it. By using our MVP system development service the client aimed to attract potential investors and elevate the project to the next level.

In this project, we worked with multiple clients, TALL Systems (the end client) and Gilan Digital (our direct client). Both clients are official entities based in Edmonton, Canada. As their system architecture and development partner, we collaborated closely with Gilan Digital, who led the project management, carried out business analysis and provided wireframes, screen mockups, network architecture, database designs, field validations, key technology selection, and conducted brainstorming sessions, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the project’s direction. This arrangement allowed us to effectively carry out the project and deliver the desired outcomes.

Business Challenges

The client’s mission was to deliver a secure solution that manages essential personal records through sophisticated, privacy-first, opt-in features, giving users control over their data – when, where, and how they need it most. To accomplish this mission, the client thought of doing a MVP system development that would serve as a compelling product to attract potential investors and advance the project’s progress.

To deliver a secure solution that manages essential personal records through sophisticated, privacy-first, opt-in features that give you control of your data—when, where and how you need it most.
TALL Systems

Hare are some real world challenges our client is trying to solve through TALL systems.

Mental Health

When you have a family member dealing with mental health challenges, your concern for their well-being extends beyond physical proximity. Whether they live with you or not, you may wonder how to maintain communication and support them effectively.

Asset and Expense Tracking

With so much going on in life, keeping track of expenses becomes a concern. Specially, when you’re traveling overseas for a business meeting, you might face challenges with accessing a reliable network connection off-site or while moving between locations. TALL Systems aims to solve such obstacles.

Business Travel

While traveling abroad for a business meeting, you find yourself at customs, where they demand proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a valid medical exemption. Unfortunately, during the trip preparations, you either forgot to obtain a copy of your vaccination certificate or misplaced it while packing, and it’s now in your luggage, which has been loaded onto the plane. As a result, you’re stuck at customs, unable to proceed without the required documentation. TALL Systems aims to fix this issue with efficient record management and accessibility when in need.

Seniors and Long-term Care

Managing various medical reports and tracking regular medical doses for loved ones (e.g., elderly spouse, parents) becomes challenging, particularly when you are not living with them. Your family doctor may not have complete visibility into their daily health metrics, such as regular blood pressure readings or whether they are consistently taking prescribed medications. This lack of transparency creates difficulties in securely sharing these vital records with the right individuals who have the appropriate access permissions.

Homelessness and Refugees

Homelessness is not a choice, but what if your worst nightmare becomes a reality: you’re suddenly compelled to evacuate with only a moment’s notice, leaving your house and all your belongings behind. The experience is terrifying! There’s no time to organize or pack for your escape. You must simply leave, and leave right away!

Whether it’s a natural disaster like a wildfire, flood, tornado, or hurricane, you need to be prepared for such unexpected evacuations. In the dreadful situation of violent conflicts or war, having secure and reliable access to your essential records becomes even more crucial if you are forced to flee your home and country.

The Solution

To address the client’s requirements and challenges, we closely analyzed their business needs and developed a comprehensive solution. Our approach involved delivering various systems as part of a complete MVP solution, including a cross-platform mobile application developed in Flutter, a solid and secure backend system in Laravel, a secure authentication system with multi-factor authentication capabilities, a custom user onboarding flow across devices, and a role-based API system to ensure data and asset access control.

Our collaboration with the client throughout the project tenure enabled us to understand their vision and goals, ensuring that the solution we developed aligned with their objectives. We have delivered several systems that form the foundation of the TALL Systems platform, and we continue to work with the client on upcoming phases, striving for even greater success and making a real impact in the world based on TALL Systems’ vision.

Approach

During the tenure of the project, our collaboration with the client was instrumental in shaping the solution. We maintained open lines of communication, regularly discussing the project requirements, goals, and milestones. Due to such close collaboration, we were able to gain a deep understanding of the client’s vision and objectives that further helped us to deliver a solution that met the exact needs of client’s requirements.

Our approach was to build a modular and scalable system architecture that would have the capability to support the client’s long-term objectives. For this, we worked closely with the client, so that we could easily develop a roadmap which would further help us in terms of flexibility and adaptability. This ensured that the system could easily transition into microservices when the time was right, accommodating future expansion and integration of new features.

From a project management perspective, we adopted an Agile approach. Together with the client, we prioritized features based on their business value and urgency, focusing on developing an MVP that would demonstrate the system’s core functionalities. This allowed us to deliver a proof-of-concept product with key features within a specified timeline.

Architecture

Developed with the versatility to be utilized as a white-label solution or a SaaS product, this system was carefully crafted to accommodate various technical stacks. Leveraging Flutter for the mobile app, Laravel for the backend, and PostgreSQL for the database, we architectured each component to align with the client’s specific requirements. The architecture comprised distinct sub-systems, each incorporating its own set of libraries, tech stack, and design patterns.

Cross-Platform Mobile App

The MVP app development was done using Flutter and played a pivotal role in providing a seamless user experience across both Android and iOS platforms. The choice of Flutter was driven by its testability, scalability, security, and accessibility features, ensuring a user-friendly experience across platforms.

Flutter’s versatility and performance allowed us to create a single codebase that could be deployed on multiple platforms, reducing MVP app development time and effort. Additionally, Flutter’s extensive widget library facilitated the creation of a visually appealing and responsive user interface.

Scalable Authentication System

Security was a top priority throughout the development process. To achieve a secure and scalable authentication system, we leveraged Firebase, a cloud-based authentication service. Firebase provided robust user authentication capabilities, enabling us to implement multi-factor authentication and custom onboarding flows, leaving no room for security breaches. The architecture was designed to accommodate any future enhancements to the authentication process, ensuring a high level of security for user data.

In addition to the Firebase and multi-factor authentication, the implementation of the API system brought further value to the business and aligned with the client’s vision by providing flexible authentication mechanisms in undesired circumstances such as war, flood, and other emergency situations.

The API system was designed to accommodate various authentication methods that could be adapted based on the availability of resources and the conditions prevailing during unexpected events. This flexibility in authentication allowed users to continue accessing critical data and resources even when traditional authentication methods, such as username/password or biometric authentication, might be unavailable or disrupted due to challenging circumstances.

Robust Backend

The backend system built on the Laravel framework served as the foundation for the entire TALL Systems platform. We leveraged Laravel’s robust features and ecosystem to develop a secure and scalable backend that could handle the core business logic.

The backend system acted as a centralized repository for data management, processing user requests, and facilitating seamless communication between different components of the system. This approach allowed us to reuse this core system and data across multiple business systems, aligning with the client’s requirement for scalability and extensibility.

Secure Authorization Module

We implemented a secure authorization module to ensure that only authorized users could access and manipulate resources within the system. This module validated requests from various sources, such as web and API, and granted access based on the user’s role and permissions. By enforcing strict access control, we maintained the integrity and confidentiality of the user’s data, mitigating the risk of unauthorized access. This module enhanced security and data protection throughout the system.

Through a carefully designed permission framework, the authorization module enabled users to grant varying levels of access to specific documents or categories of information, ensuring that only individuals with rightful access could view or modify them. For example, a user could grant read-only access to medical records to their doctor, full access to personal documents to their family members, or limited access to certain data to their caregivers.

By providing this fine-grained control over document sharing, the authorization module empowered users to securely collaborate and share information with their trusted network, enhancing communication and coordination for better care and support. It aligned perfectly with the client’s vision of a comprehensive system that not only ensured data security but also facilitated efficient and controlled information sharing within a user’s personal ecosystem.

This capability brought significant value to the business by fostering stronger relationships with users and their network, increasing user satisfaction, and positioning the TALL Systems platform as a reliable and trusted solution in the market. Furthermore, it addressed the client’s vision of providing a holistic platform that catered to the complex needs of individuals, allowing them to manage and share their respective documents securely.

Robust API System

The API system was a key component of the TALL Systems platform, providing controlled access to data and resources. The development of the API system focused on two key aspects. Firstly, we implemented fine-tuned role-based access control to ensure that users only had access to the data they were authorized to view or modify. This granular access control enhanced data security and privacy. Secondly, we implemented a secure API system for accessing and downloading documents, ensuring that sensitive information was transmitted securely over the network.

Furthermore, the API system was designed with a focus on scalability and customization, allowing it to be easily tailored to different deployment models. This flexibility enabled the TALL Systems platform to be offered both as a white label solution, where clients could rebrand and customize the platform to align with their own brand identity, and as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, where clients could access the platform as a hosted service.

By providing a standardized and secure API system, we were able to offer a cost-effective solution that didn’t require extensive customization for each client. The API system acted as a bridge between the TALL Systems platform and external systems or custom applications, enabling seamless integration and data exchange while maintaining robust security measures.

This flexibility significantly reduced the time, effort, and cost associated with implementing and maintaining separate instances of the platform for each client. The API system’s standardized interface and security features ensured that data privacy and security remained intact across different deployments, regardless of whether it was a white label solution or a SaaS offering.

Features

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2-Way Sync

To address the client’s requirement for data accessibility across platforms and devices, we implemented a robust 2-way sync mechanism. This allowed users to seamlessly access their data from both the mobile app and web portal, ensuring that any changes made on one device were synchronized and reflected on all other devices. This feature enhanced the user experience and allowed for consistent data availability.

Offline Access

Recognizing the importance of uninterrupted access to data, even in offline environments, we implemented offline access capabilities. Users could securely access and modify their data even when they were not connected to the internet. Any changes made offline were saved locally and synced with the backend once an internet connection was restored. This feature ensured that users could continue to work with their data regardless of their connectivity status.

Custom Onboarding Flow

To align with the client’s mission and provide a personalized onboarding experience, we developed a custom onboarding flow. The onboarding process was designed to be secure and flexible, allowing users to resume the sign-up process across multiple devices. This ensured a seamless and consistent onboarding experience, even in uncertain circumstances.

Customizable Dashboard

To empower users and provide a personalized experience, we developed a customizable dashboard feature. Users could create their own dashboard layout and choose the documents and data they wanted to have quick access to. This feature enhanced user productivity and allowed for a tailored experience based on individual preferences.

Advanced Document Type Detection

To enhance usability and convenience, we implemented an advanced document type detection module. This module automatically identified the type of uploaded documents, allowing users to preview and open them with the respective applications available on their devices. By providing this feature, we simplified the document management process for users, saving them time and effort. This will help us to implement document specific processing functionality in the future to support more features.

The Result

Happy Client!

Through the active collaboration between our development team and the client, we successfully completed the MVP development of the TALL Systems platform. This MVP project development was thoroughly tested by internal volunteers and existing investors, showcasing its core functionalities and generating significant interest from potential investors. The success of the MVP enabled the client to secure the necessary funding to propel the project forward.

Excitingly, our journey with the client does not end here. With more phases planned for the future, we look forward to further enhancing the TALL Systems platform. Our goal is to continue making a real impact in the world by empowering individuals to regain control of their personal data. The vision of our client for a secure and privacy-centric data management solution remains at the forefront of our partnership.

By leveraging the principles of MVP development, we have laid a strong foundation for the TALL Systems platform. This iterative approach allowed us to deliver a functional product that met the immediate needs of the users while leaving room for continuous improvement and expansion. We are committed to refining and optimizing the platform based on user feedback and evolving requirements, ensuring its effectiveness and relevance in an ever-changing digital landscape.

Together with our client, we are dedicated to driving positive change and transforming the way personal data is managed. By embracing the power of MVP development and building upon the initial success of the TALL Systems MVP, we are poised to make a lasting impact and establish the platform as a trusted solution for secure and privacy-driven data management.

In conclusion, the completion of the TALL Systems MVP project development marked a significant milestone in our journey. It not only demonstrated the viability of the platform but also attracted crucial investor support. With the upcoming phases, we are eager to continue our collaborative efforts and deliver an exceptional solution that empowers individuals to safeguard their personal data and embrace a new era of data privacy.